In the lead-up to its iPhone launch and the unlimited data bundles that will come with it, O2 UK has announced three new “unlimited” data plans. Part of O2’s “Bolt Ons” scheme, they will launch on October 1st… with the surprise being that there actually are limits to how much data is included.

—O2 Web Bolt On is available to Pay & Go and Pay Monthly customers for just 7.50 pounds (US$15.19) inc VAT per month. This is intended for people who want to browse the internet and send e-mails, and is subject to a fair usage policy which operates above 200Mb usage per month, or “approx 1,400 Internet pages per month”.
—If people want to connect their handset to a PC or use a data card the O2 Web Max costs 30 pounds a month including VAT, and (from the press release) “this unlimited offering is subject to a fair usage policy which operates above 3Gb usage per month”.
—Blackberry users get a 10 pound unlimited service, which allows 200Mb.

O2 notes that going above the stated thresholds won’t automatically get someone cut off, but if someone does go above it O2 may monitor usage and request the user to moderate their surfing—if they don’t, O2 may remove the package or charge extra. Now, data packages are good, and O2 is clear that there are caveats to its claim of “unlimited data”, but the problem is that the word “unlimited” is absolute, something is either limited or it’s not. There’s got to be a better way to promote this, maybe saying that 7.50 pounds guarantees you at least 200Mb a month? I’m sure O2 has a lot of smart marketing guys who could come up with something brilliant.